System and Method for Increasing Asset Utilization Using Satellite Aided Location Tracking

ABSTRACT

A system and method for increasing asset utilization using satellite aided location tracking. Smart sensor technology incorporated into mobile tracking hardware affixed to an asset can be used to support decision processes related to management of multiple assets. Automated decision processes based on customized business rules can operate on asset positions at various defined landmark locations and customized geographical areas.

This application is a continuation of non-provisional application Ser.No. 12/574,163, filed Oct. 6, 2009, which claims priority to provisionalapplication No. 61/103,049, filed Oct. 6, 2008. Each of theabove-identified applications is incorporated by reference herein, inits entirety, for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to monitoring and tracking and,more particularly, to a system and method for increasing assetutilization using satellite aided location tracking.

2. Introduction

Tracking mobile assets represents a growing enterprise as companies seekincreased visibility into the status of movable assets (e.g., dry vantrailers, refrigerated trailers, flatbed trailers, cargo containers,intermodal rail containers, frac tanks, ISO containers, chassis, rolloff bends, tank trailers, rail cars, etc.). Visibility into the statusof movable assets can be gained through mobile terminals that areaffixed to the assets. These mobile terminals can be designed togenerate position information that can be used to update status reportsthat are provided to customer representatives.

Mobile terminals can report this position information to a centralizedlocation via a wireless communication network such as a satellitecommunication network. In general, satellite communication networksprovide excellent monitoring capabilities due to their wide-rangingcoverage, which can span large sections of a continent.

Management of these movable assets is key to producing a high return oninvestment. What is needed therefore is a mechanism for enabling anenterprise to monitor, track and optimize asset utilization.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the invention briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not thereforeto be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be describedand explained with additional specificity and detail through the use ofthe accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a satellite network in communicationwith a mobile terminal on an asset.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an optimized asset process.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an asset pool management andgeographical balancing process.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example user interface for reporting.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a round trip turn time process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Tracking mobile assets (e.g., trailers, containers, rail cars, etc.)represents a growing enterprise as companies seek to improve cost,safety and service. The tracking of these assets can be accomplishedusing mobile tracking hardware that can be affixed to the asset.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an asset tracking system thatincludes operations gateway 102, communicating with mobile terminal 120on an asset. Communication between operations gateway 102 and mobileterminal 120 is facilitated by satellite gateway 104 at the groundstation and satellite modem 122 in mobile terminal 120. Both satellitegateway 104 and satellite modem 122 facilitate communication using oneforward and one return link (frequency) over communications satellite106.

In one embodiment, the satellite communication is implemented in a timedivision multiple access (TDMA) structure, which consists of 57,600 timeslots each day, per frequency or link, where each slot is 1.5 secondslong. On the forward link, operations gateway 102 sends a message orpacket to mobile terminal 120 on one of the 1.5 second slots. Uponreceipt of this message or packet, mobile terminal 120 would thenperform a GPS collection (e.g., code phase measurements) using globallocating system (GLS) module 124 or to perform sensor measurements andtransmit the data back to operations gateway 102 on the return link, onthe same slot, delayed by a fixed time defined by the network. In oneembodiment, the fixed delay defines a length of time that enables mobileterminal 120 to decode the forward packet, perform the data collectionand processing, and build and transmit the return packet.

In one embodiment, mobile terminal 120 can be configured to produceperiodic status reports. In this configuration, mobile terminal 120would wake up periodically, search for its assigned forward slot,perform data collection and processing, and transmit the status reporton the assigned return slot. In another embodiment, mobile terminal 120can be configured to produce a status report upon an occurrence of anevent (e.g., door opening, motion detected, sensor reading, etc.). Inthis configuration, mobile terminal 120 would wake up upon occurrence ofan event, search for an available forward slot, perform data collectionand processing, and transmit the status report on the return slotcorresponding to the identified available forward slot.

Upon receipt of a status report from mobile terminal 120, operationsgateway 102 passes the information to operations center 112. Operationscenter 112 can then use the received GPS collection to calculate aposition solution. This position solution along with any other statusinformation (both current and historical) can be passed to a customervia the Internet. A detailed description of this communications processis provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,158, entitled “System and Method forFast Acquisition Position Reporting Using Communication Satellite RangeMeasurement,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

In one embodiment, mobile terminal 120 can also collect sensormeasurements from sensors that are positioned at various points on theasset being tracked. In meeting the demand by customers for greatervisibility into the status of assets, various sensor types can be used.For example, volume sensors, temperature sensors, chemical sensors,radiation sensors, weight sensors, light sensors, water sensors, truckcab ID indicators, odometer sensors, wheel sensors, etc. can be used toreport the condition of cargo being transported, an environment of theasset, a condition of a service vehicle, etc. In general, these varioussensors can be used to report status information or the occurrence ofone or more events at the service vehicle to the mobile terminal fortransmission to the centralized facility. The position information alongwith any sensor information can then be reported to the centralizedfacility periodically, upon request, or upon an occurrence of a detectedevent at the asset location.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, one of the sensors that can be used isadaptive motion sensor 126, which enables motion-activated locationtracking. In general, adaptive motion sensor 126 determines whether anasset is moving or not. Together with the mobile terminal processor andGLS 124, adaptive motion sensor 126 can determine the arrival anddeparture times of an asset. When an asset begins to move, adaptivemotion sensor 126 detects the motion by measuring vibration signals.Adaptive motion sensor 126 then sends a signal to the mobile terminalprocessor informing it that motion has started. The mobile terminalprocessor then records the time motion started, and signals to GLS 124to collect code phase measurements.

The start time and the codephase measurements are sent over thesatellite back to the operations center 124 where the codephasemeasurements are used to solve for a geographical position, and thestart time is used to generate the departure time. Conversely, whenadaptive motion sensor 126 determines motion has stopped it will againinform the mobile terminal processor to collect time and codephasemeasurements, and send the information back to operations center 112.Operations center 112 then solves for position, and the stop time isused to generate the arrival time. The arrival and departure times alongwith their associated geographical locations can be supplied to the uservia the Internet.

In the motion-activated location tracking, adaptive motion sensor 126has a layer of filtering that is capable of filtering out unwantedstarts and stops such that mobile terminal 120 only transmits truearrival and departure information. For example, mobile terminal 120 canbe configured to only transmit starts or stops when the change in motiondetected by adaptive motion sensor 126 is maintained for a configurablepercentage of time. In this manner, only accurate arrival and departuretime information is transmitted by mobile terminal 120 using filteredresults of adaptive motion sensor 126. This layer of filtering saves onunwanted transmissions, and hence power, bandwidth, and cost.

The mobile terminal can be configured to transmit a position reportafter the actual arrival or departure times when the motion sensor hasreached its “no-motion” or “motion” times, respectively. The “motion”and “no-motion” times can be separately configurable, for example, fromone minute up to two hours. For example, if the “motion” time is set at15 minutes, then the mobile terminal will only transmit departure timeinformation at the expiration of the 15-minute “motion” time periodshould the motion condition be valid for greater than a configurablepercentage of time. This configurability can be used to allow more timeto exit an area of interest, or allow more time at rest stops along theway. Once the motion sensor has determined that the mobile terminal hasentered a “motion” state, the mobile terminal can then be configured totransmit status reports periodically (e.g., once every X minutes/hours).

The user-configurable “motion sensitivity” can be implemented as thepercentage of time the asset needs to remain in motion during the“motion time” to signal motion. This is useful, for example, inmaintaining a motion condition while stopped at a traffic light or arest stop. Conversely, the user-configurable “no-motion sensitivity” canbe implemented as the percentage of time the asset needs to remain inno-motion during the “no-motion” time to signal no-motion. This isuseful, for example, in maintaining a no-motion condition while moving atrailer within a yard. A detailed description of this communicationsprocess is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 7,498,925, entitled “System andMethod for Reporting a Status of an asset,” which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

In the present invention, the tracking mechanism provides movementinformation that can be used in automated decision processes that relateto asset location and utilization, thereby saving considerable fuel,equipment, and man-hour cost. In one example, the asset locationinformation can be used to correlate value to pertinent landmarkinformation. More generally, alert information can be generated whenasset utilization is not optimized by geographical area or balanced foroptimal regional requirements.

One example of a decision process support (DPS) tool application is anoptimized asset application. This optimized asset application is basedon a set of one or more customized business rules. In one embodiment,these customized business rules are established by a user through a webinterface based application. In one example, an asset optimizationapplication can include weighted business rules such as the following:Asset Distance from Truck, Asset Distance from Load Point, Asset IdleTime (or non-utilization), Asset Pool Assignment—Landmark (e.g., targetnumber of assets assigned to Landmark), Pool Location Idles Days Target,Pool Location Turn-time (i.e., arriving to leaving time) Target, AssetGroup Assignment, Trailer Status—Empty or Loaded, Cost per MileTraveled, Revenue per Asset Day (e.g., based on value of freight),Revenue per Landmark, and Landmark Status (Pool Status) On/Off orAssigned Weight.

Each business rule can be assigned a weight by importance and can beused to measure and recommend the best assets for the job requirement.In one embodiment, the job requirement details to be measured are asfollows, Truck position, Load point position (Origin), End pointposition (Destination), Asset positions, Distance, and Cost andProfitability.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example workflow process based on a set ofweighted business rules. As illustrated, the process begins at step 202where a driver drops a trailer at a location and needs a new trailerassigned to him for the next job. At step 204, the load planner thenselects the landmark location of the driver (e.g., 4-5 letter code). Thelocation of the driver and origin of the job (i.e., load at point) arethen provided to the DPS tool at step 206. The DPS tool then measures,at step 208, all trailer locations, driver positions, load destinations,distance from all assets against the business rules setup by thecustomer. At step 210, the list of sorted assets are then returned tothe load planner (e.g., via XML). This list of assets is sorted based onthe business rules defined for the customer. Finally, at step 212, theload planner selects the asset for the job and dispatches it to thedriver.

As noted above, various business rules can be defined that relate toasset-specific statistics as well as asset-pool statistics. An exampleof an asset-specific statistic is a distance from an asset (e.g.,trailer) to an asset transporter (e.g., truck). It is a feature of thepresent invention that business rules can be custom defined forindividual landmark areas. These landmark areas can be defined by thecustomer in identifying a pooling area (e.g., trailer yard) for aplurality of assets.

The adaptive motion sensor technology in the mobile terminals affixed tothe assets enables accurate assessments of activity in relation to adefined landmark area. For example, the filtering of results produced bythe adaptive motion sensor can more clearly identify when an asset hasactually arrived at a destination defined by a landmark area. Forexample, only after an asset has achieved a no-motion condition forgreater than a defined percentage of a period of time would the assetconsidered to be stopped. If the location of the stopped position iswithin a landmark boundary area, then the asset would be considered tohave arrived at that landmark area. The time of arrival can beconsidered the time that the asset was first determined to have enteredinto a no-motion state.

This tracking mechanism is in contrast to perimeter crossing mechanismsthat can only determine when an asset has crossed a geographic boundarythreshold, which is distinct from the actual arrival point. Simplemotion sensing is also inaccurate due to the potential for multiplestarts and stops within a defined landmark area (e.g., movement within atrailer yard).

The statistics generated by assets within a landmark area can representasset-pool statistics that can drive a business rule analysis for such alandmark area. As would be appreciated, the business rule can beseparately and individually customized for each landmark area.

As an example, consider a business rule that relates to a turn-timetarget for a given pool location. This turn-time target can be definedas a target amount of time (e.g., days/hours) between an arrival anddeparture of an asset from a landmark area. Again, the arrival anddeparture times generated from a conventional boundary crossingmethodology would yield inaccurate and inconsistent results. Statisticsregarding the turn time of assets that enter and leave the landmark areacan be used to determine the efficiency of an asset pool assigned tothat landmark area. If the turn-time statistics indicate a resultgreater than a threshold, then the DPS tool can elevate assets in thatlandmark area for immediate or near-future assignment. Conversely, ifthe turn-time statistics indicate a result significantly less than athreshold, then the DPS tool can prevent assets in that landmark areafrom immediate or near-future reassignment.

As another example, consider an asset pool assignment for a landmarkarea. This asset pool assignment can identify a target number of assetsfor a given landmark area. If the number of assets at a given landmarkarea exceeds the threshold, then the DPS tool can elevate one or moreassets in that landmark area for immediate or near-future assignment.

As these examples illustrate, the selection of assets to be assigned canbe based on more than individual asset statistics. In the presentinvention, management of pools of assets is enabled. This arearepresents another example of a DPS tool application that relates to anasset pool management and geographical balance application.

In one embodiment, this application is designed to provide the user withnear-real-time asset balance information based on the end user targetpool and geographical goals. The application also leverages the GLS andadaptive motion sensor features described above, in havingnear-real-time updates of asset movement integrated with the DPS tool.With this integration, the customer can view network imbalances as theyhappen, thus providing the user with the ability to take correctiveaction to counteract such network imbalances.

In one embodiment, the DPS tool provides the end user with the abilityto designate target asset quantities by Customer Pool—Landmark Location,or Customized Geographical Area, which can include multiple LandmarkLocations within the Customized Geographical Area. The tool can displaythis information at two levels, Landmark level and Geographical leveland can provide alerts when locations exceed a predetermined imbalancethreshold.

For example, an end user landmark location or customized geographicalarea can have a target pool of 10 trailers. When the location or areaexceeds 120% of the user defined target an alert is generated.Similarly, when the location or area drops below 80% of its user definedtarget an alert is generated. Alerts can also be generated based on themonitoring of other statistics such as average idle asset days atlocation or area per month, average cost per idle asset day, averageasset turn-time, etc.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example reporting process that incorporates assetpool management and geographical balance. As illustrated, the processbegins at step 302 where a user defines landmark locations and/orcustomized geographical area using the setup tools.

In one embodiment, the setup tools are provided through a web drivengraphical user interface. In general, the graphical user interface canenable the user to define a landmark location or customized geographicalarea using drawing tools that define an area using specified shapes,points, lines, etc. Where the graphical user interface is used to definea customized geographical area, the user can also provide inputs thatselect multiple landmark locations instead of defining an actualcontiguous region. These multiple landmark locations can be specifiedusing a pointing tool or through the selection from a graphical listing.

In this process, landmarks locations can be associated with one or morecustomized geographical areas. As such, the customized geographicalareas can be mutually exclusive or can overlap in some fashion. Ingeneral, the customized geographical areas can be used to defineseparate regions that have independent significance from a monitoringperspective.

At step 304, the asset locations and movements are monitored via theasset tracking system. In one embodiment, the relevance of assetlocations can be based on whether an asset is inside or outside of adefined landmark location or customized geographical area.

As noted above, the adaptive motion sensor technology in the mobileterminals affixed to the assets enables accurate assessments of anasset's location relative to a defined location or area. This accuracyis enabled by the filtering of adaptive motion sensor results toidentify when an asset has actually arrived at a destination defined bya location or area. This processing and analysis is distinct fromconventional boundary crossing mechanisms that can only infer, forexample, that an asset has arrived at a destination location.

Based on this tracking data, the DPS tool can perform near-real-timebalancing analysis of landmark locations and customized geographic areasat step 306. More specifically, the DPS tool can determine a number ofassets that have arrived and are currently located within each landmarklocation and customized geographic area. This determined number ofassets within each landmark location and customized geographic area canrepresent the pool of assets associated with each landmark location andcustomized geographical area.

Based on this analysis, the DPS tool can then compare the determinedpool of assets within each landmark location and customized geographicalarea to any thresholds defined relative to a target pool of assets foreach landmark location and customized geographical area. The customercan define a target pool of assets for each landmark location andcustomized geographical area. This target pool of assets can representthe customer's desires for an allocation of asset resources across thevarious landmark locations and customized geographical areas.

Using the determined pool of assets within each landmark location andcustomized geographical area, the DPS tool can then determine whether athreshold has been crossed relative to a target pool (e.g., over 120% orbelow 80%). If a threshold has been crossed, then a near-real-time alertcan be generated by the DPS tool and provided to the customer at step308. This alert can signal to the customer that a geographical imbalanceexists amongst the assets and that an asset pool management adjustmentmay need to be made. As part of the reporting process, the DPS tool canalso be designed to provide the customer with periodic reports (e.g.,via email, voice messages, text messages, or the like) that can detailthe current asset pool levels.

Asset pool management statistics can also be retrieved for the definedlandmarks and/or customized geographical areas using a graphical userinterface such as that illustrated in FIG. 4. In one embodiment, assetpool management statistics can be displayed visually using heat maps orother graphical illustrations that provide an indication of the relativemeasure of a measured statistic as compared to one or more thresholds.As would be appreciated, the asset pool management and geographicalbalancing process can be based on the number of assets alone or incombination with other statistics such as average idle asset days atlocation or area per month, average cost per idle asset day, averageasset turn-time, etc. In general, any set of one or more statistics thatprovide an indication of asset utilization and non-utilization can beused to drive an asset pool management and geographical balancingapplication.

Another example of a DPS tool application is an evaluation of an assetturn-time between a departure and a return to a defined landmarklocation. This round trip asset turn-time bears some similarity to theturn-time within a landmark location.

To illustrated this feature of the present invention, reference is nowmade to the flowchart of FIG. 5 as applied to an application directed toborder crossing asset management. As illustrated, the process begins atstep 502 where a landmark location is defined. This landmark locationcan be defined at a border crossing point into and out of a country(e.g., border crossing between the United States and Mexico).

At step 504, an asset's departure from the border landmark locationwould be monitored. In effect, the report received from the borderlandmark location would log the start date and time that the assetenters Mexico. In one embodiment, this start time can be used to start aturn-time timer. At step 506, an asset's rentry into the United stateswould trigger a second report that logs the end date and time that theasset departs Mexico. This end date and time can then be used at step508 to identify a round trip turn-time for the trip across the border.

In the example noted above, the round trip turn-time is based on exitand reentry to a particular landmark location. As multiple bordercrossings exist, landmark locations can be defined for each of themultiple border crossings. The multiple border crossings can then begrouped together as a customized geographical area. As noted above, thecustomized geographical area need not be contiguous. In this example,the round trip turn-time for the cross border trip can be based on exitand reentry to the customized geographical area.

Based on the determined round trip turn-times for a plurality of assets,the DPS tool can provide performance reports by Asset Turn-time by Trip,Average Asset Turn-time, Average Fleet Turn-time Performance, etc. Forexample, the report can specify that XYZ customer had 24 asset arrivalsin a particular month and the average trailer turn-time in and out ofMexico for that location for the month was 8.73 days.

In addition to the above, the DPS application can also associate alandmark location with a trailer destination in Mexico. Turn-timeperformance for that landmark location can then be generated todistinguish the destination turn-time from the actual travel time.

Moreover, the user can also designate areas of Mexico that are no travelareas for their assets. The no travel areas can be designated usinglandmark or customized geographical areas. Alerts can also be set up fornotifications as assets enter the no travel areas allowing the end userto identify a potential problem. Similarly, the user can designatepreferred travel areas that are normally used by their assets. Thus, ifan asset leaves those designated areas, an alert is generated and sentto the user.

Another example of a DPS tool application is a detention billingapplication. With this application, customers can set up detentionbilling rules for a landmark location or customized geographical area.For example, the detention billing rules can include, Landmark FreeDays—free days asset can dwell at a landmark location or customizedgeographical area, Detention billing threshold—when an asset exceedsthis number of days of detention at a landmark location or customizedgeographical area then billing begins, and Dollar amount to be billedper day. The user can also can set up an alert by landmark location orcustomized geographical area, with a customized message field, thatsends an email or other message to key personnel stating that adetention billing event is about to begin. The end user can define whenthe alerts are to be sent. For example, 1-10 days before the detentionevent is to occur, each day during the detention event, or not to exceednumber of alerts.

In one example, the detention billing module provides the end user witha report at the end of each month for detention billing purposes. Thereport can include landmark location or customized geographical areaarrival and departure dates and time for all assets, Each asset idletime at the landmark location or customized geographical area for themonth, Total number of idle days at the landmark location or customizedgeographical area, Total number of idle days above free time, Amountbilled per idle day above free time, and Total amount to be billed forthe month at the landmark location or customized geographical area.

These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art by a review of the preceding detaileddescription. Although a number of salient features of the presentinvention have been described above, the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways thatwould be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading thedisclosed invention, therefore the above description should not beconsidered to be exclusive of these other embodiments. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are forthe purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a computerimplemented operations module via a communication network, a request forasset assignment from an asset transporter; determining, for a pluralityof customer defined landmark areas, a ranked list of assets in theplurality of customer defined landmark areas based on a customer definedweighting of a plurality of rules, the plurality of rules including alandmark specific threshold that relates to a target number of assetsthat are presently located in one of the plurality of customer definedlandmark areas; selecting an asset from the ranked list of assets; andtransmitting, via a communication network, an identification of theselected asset to the asset transporter.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of rules includes a turn time target thatidentifies a target amount of time between an arrival and departure ofan asset from a landmark area.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of rules includes a rule based on a revenue generated perlandmark area for a given time period.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinthe plurality of rules includes a rule based on a number of asset idledays at a landmark area.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the pluralityof rules further includes a threshold that relates to a target number ofassets that are presently located in a customer defined geographic area,the customer defined geographic area including a plurality of customerdefined landmark areas.
 6. An asset pool management method, comprising:receiving, by a computer implemented operations module via acommunication network, a definition of a geographical area formonitoring; receiving, via a communication network, a target number ofassets for the geographical area; identifying a number of assets thatare located within the geographical area at a given point in time; andgenerating an alert when the identified number of assets is greater thana threshold variance from the target number of assets.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the geographical area is a landmark location.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the geographical area is a customizedgeographical area that includes a plurality of landmark locations, eachof the plurality of landmark locations having associated therewith arespective target number of assets.
 9. The method of claim 6, whereinthe identifying comprises identifying a number of assets that arelocated within the geographical area based on arrival reports that aregenerated after an asset has remained in a no motion state for greaterthan a predefined percentage of a period of time.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, wherein said generating comprises generating an alert if theidentified number of assets is greater than a threshold variance abovethe target number of assets.
 11. The method of claim 6, wherein thegenerating comprises generating an alert if the identified number ofassets is greater than a threshold variance below the target number ofassets.
 12. A method, comprising: receiving, by a computer implementedoperations module via a communication network, a request for assetassignment from an asset transporter; selecting an asset from a rankedlist of assets, wherein the ranked list of assets is based at least inpart on a landmark specific threshold that relates to a target number ofassets that are presently located in a customer defined landmark areas;and transmitting, via a communication network, an identification of theselected asset to the asset transporter.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the ranked list of assets is further based on a threshold thatrelates to a target number of assets that are presently located in acustomer defined geographic area, the customer defined geographic areaincluding a plurality of customer defined landmark areas.